Placing a Value on Soybeans for Forage
By Tom Kriegl, Farm Management Project Coordinator , University of Wisconsin-Extension,
September 24, 2003
What is soybean forage worth? Many farmers are considering harvesting the crop for forage rather than grain because of drought stress and may be wondering what price they could expect if they sold the crop for forage.
Soybean silage can be of high quality (18 to 20 percent crude protein and 40 to 45 percent NDF), but yields of dry matter are low at about 1.5 tons per acre when harvested as the pods and seeds are just forming (R3 stage). Harvesting soybean silage at a more mature state (R6) when seeds have completely filled the pods provides high quality forage and increases dry matter yields to about three tons per acre, but the high proportion of raw soybeans in the silage limits the daily feeding rate to about 10 pounds of dry matter per cow (25 pounds of 40 percent dry matter silage). (Mixing soybean and corn forages at the time of ensiling may ensure a better fermentation of soybean forage in the silo due to more readily fermentable carbohydrates provided from the corn silage.)
If we assume that the soybean forage is comparable to prime alfalfa hay in feed quality, the yield is 2.0 tons per acre and prime hay is worth $150/ton, the value of an acre of soybean forage would be $300 minus harvest cost. If the cost of harvesting (assuming ensiling) is $50 per acre, the ending value would be $250 per acre.
As is the case with pricing corn silage, many variables will affect soybean forage pricing.
